Thanksgiving and SO much going on!

Well, we survived Thanksgiving 2010! It was actually a really nice week since the kids and I were all home Tuesday through Sunday!! We LOVED it! We, of course, spent Thanksgiving Day running around to all the different family members' houses and by the end of the day we were all stuffed to the max! It was delicious!!

Somehow, I convinced Chris to take me Black Friday shopping! Luckily, Chris' parents offered to keep the kiddos Thursday night, so we were able to get out bright and early Friday morning. We started at 5am at Pottery Barn Outlet and I was able to stock up on LOTS of Christmas gifts!! Next, we hit Target. Luckily, we went to the Target in East Memphis so it wasn't as crowded. We scored some major deals! I am so proud to say that 90% of the kid's christmas gifts are hidden away ready for Santa to drop off! ;) All I have left is a few gifts for family members and some gift cards to pick up. THANK GOODNESS!!! I am determined to make the holiday's as relaxing as possible this year! (we'll see how that goes..... ha!)

{haha! isn't that the truth!}

That pretty much sums up our long weekend. We decorated the house for Christmas, so hopefully I'll get some pictures posted soon. There is so much going on around here, so it's been a little crazy. I promise to get back on the blogging wagon really soon! :)

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!!

Just a quick update...

I don't even have pictures to post!! I can't remember the last time that happened! ;)

We had a VERY low key weekend around our house! I think the time change really did us all in this past week. I've even been ready for bed around 7:30 every night! And let's be honest... Mine and Chris' night out last Saturday didn't help matters much!! Sleep deprivation sure does hit you a lot harder when you're not 21 and you have kids!! ;)

Friday night, we decided to order in. Chris stopped at Pei Wei on his way home (and gosh... Do I LOVE online ordering!!!) and picked up some yummy noodles and ginger beef! After that, we all curled up on the couch and watch some Veggie Tales. Ethan was very cute Friday afternoon. While we were waiting in the carpool lane to pick LK up from school, I told home that he had soccer practice that night. He looked straight at me and very seriously said,"NOPE! I'm going to the Memphis Tigers basketball game!" haha! Apparently someone at school told him that there was a basketball game that night and he decided that was going!!! Chris just beamed when I told him! Looks like my little man is going to follow in his daddy's footsteps and be a Memphis fan! (I still have hope for LK being an Ole Miss girl!!!) :)

Saturday morning my grandmother came to visit and luckily Ethan's soccer game was canceled because of the rain. We spent most of the morning just relaxing and enjoying the rain. That night the kids spent the night with my mom. They seemed to really enjoy themselves!! But who doesn't love getting spoiled by MeMaw??! Chris and I took advantage of our kids free evening and enjoyed a QUIET dinner (can't say that very often!), some more Christmas shopping (I'm almost finished with the kids shopping!!), and even a movie! (Charlie St.Cloud was VERY good!)

Today, we went to my Grandmother's house to help her with a few things around the house and then came home and did more stuff around here. I was able to get a little bit of cleaning accomplished and even managed to get all the fall decor put away. We are SOOO ready for Christmas around our house!!!

Well, that's our weekend in a nutshell! Definitely nothing exciting! Ha! It was honestly nice to relax though! Our weeks tend to get so hectic and usually the weekends are just as busy, so it's nice to take it easy every once in a while!

Well, I hope everyone has a great week! I'll try to have a better post later in the week!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shutterfly Christmas Cards!

It's about that time... Christmas Card time!! :) One of my favorite things to do each year is to search high and low for the PERFECT Christmas card! Shutterfly has really outdone themselves this year. I have to admit... the past few years, I have designed and printed my own. But with all this cuteness from Shutterfly this year.. I will most likely be purchasing! :) I am so happy to announce that Shutterfly is giving away 50 free cards to bloggers!!! They have SO much to choose from.. Holiday Cards, Christmas Invitations, and more photo cards than you can even imagine! :) Go HERE to sign up! Here are a few of my faves:

Are these not just precious??! I have NO idea what our Christmas card will look like this year, but I'm looking forward to deciding! Good thing we had Candice take all those great photos for us!! Now I have PLENTLY to choose from! :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas cards... to send and to receive! :) Definitely go and take advantage of this great offer. There are SO many other cards to choose from.

You dropped the bomb on me, baby!

Last night, Chris and I celebrated the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Goss. The wedding was breathtakingly beautiful!! We have been friends with both Rachel and Robbie since high school, so it was great to be surrounded by alot of friends for the occassion. It's always great to catch up with friends that you haven't seen in such a long time! The wedding was held a local Baptist church and the reception was at the historic Peabody Hotel in Downtowon Memphis. Everything was just gorgeous!!

Mrs. Rachel Goss - such a beautiful bride!

Bride and Groom

the incredibly gorgeous wedding cake! (and it was pretty darn yummy too!) :)

Ricky served as a groomsman and, of course, Jessica looked beautiful!

Lyns, Jess and Me.. we had SO much fun! (maybe too much!) ha!

Chris and his best friend, Justin

I had a VERY VERY hard time finding a dress for the wedding. To be honest, I've gained a little bit of weight recently, so absolutely NOTHING fit properly! I finally found this Lilly dress that I fell in love with. I literally had to squeeze myself into it, but I'm glad I did! I LOVE IT!! Once I actually got it on, it was the most comfortable dress ever! And, I wont lie.. the compliments I got on it didn't hurt either! ;)

my lovely sister

Isn't he so handsome?! :)

Lyns and Ryan - brother of the groom

it was FREEZING outside!! We all went out afterwards, so I was SO glad that I brought my coat along for the walk!

hilarious pic! so much for a family portrait!! ha!

After the wedding, we all decided to walk over to a Memphis late night hot spot.. RAIFORDS!! I LOVE RAIFORDS!! Just about the entire wedding party went and we had a GREAT time! By this time, everyone was beginning to feel the drinks from the main bar, so when I walked in, just about all the boys were up on stage having a ball! It was hilarious to watch. Made me feel like I was back at a high school dance with all my best friends. We danced the night away!

Landon and Rachel Young

Groomsmen

Mr. Harding having a grand ole time! ;)

LOVE Landon Tate!

Yes, that's my husband! ha!

The Young's

We had the best time! It's not very often that we get a night out on the town like that, so we took full advantage of our freedom! We were out till the wee hours of the morning and you can bet that we are both feeling it today! I have a pile of laundry and bathrooms that need cleaning, but I've been lounging around watching SVU all day! ha! Well, except for the quick Target trip to stock up on some Christmas toys that were on sale!!

I hope everyone has a great week! I am using this week to get a head start on some much needed Christmas shopping!

BROCC-O-LI.. CEL-ER-EY.. GOTTA BE.. VEGGIE TALES!

Last week, we took the kids to see Veggie Tales Live. It was at a local (GIGANTIC) church. We LOVED it!!

look at Miss Priss in her new boots!

too bad he SLEPT the entire time!!

SEE! ;)

It was a great show! It was a "silly songs countdown", so they sang most of the silly songs that the kids always enjoy. Although Ethan was waiting for them to sing "give me gas in my Ford, keep me truckin' for the Lord!" (as he calls it!) :) Maybe they'll do a Sunday School song show one of these days. ha!

If Veggie Tales comes to your area, be sure to go! It was definitely worth it! We saw so many friends and their kiddos there. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it! :)

2nd star to the right and straight on till morning...

Goodness.. this weekend FLEW by! We were so so busy, but had a ball!

Friday afternoon we FINALLY made it up to the pumpkin "store" (aka the little area in front of Schnucks with tons of pumpkins) to pick out our large "carving" pumpkin. We had gone to the patch to pick out smaller ones for the kiddos to paint, but we still needed to carve one. I tried to get a few cute pics... FAIL! ha! LK is beginning to HATE having her picture taken and Ethan.. well, Ethan doesn't like to sit still long enough!

{wow! can we all tell how exhausted Mommy is??!}

Saturday morning, we all got up bright and early to participate in the Memphis Race for the Cure! This is our 4th year to participate and it's always something that we look forward too. Chris' mom is a breast cancer survivor and we are so thankful for all the strides they have made to fight this disease!! I am always so amazed at the incredible turnout for this event and all the support from around the city. We were so excited that April and her girls were able to walk with us this year. Even though it was freezing, that 3 miles went by so quickly and we had a blast!

Miss Addyson found a foam finger and insisted on having it!

my sweet LK! SUCH a trooper!! She walked almost the ENTIRE 3 miles!!

and yes.. 1 month old Baby Abigail made the walk too! She slept the entire time!

i know.. i know.. he has his paci.. but hey, it was REALLY early and REALLY cold! i gave in! ;)

April's MIL and Addy

The Bunge Fam! (Chris' aunt and family)

LK and her Noni!

Stickles Fam!! (minus Britt!)

Love this girl!! And can you believe that she had a baby a month ago??! She looks GREAT!

Addyson was RUNNING the entire time! It was hilarious to watch! Poor Nana had to keep up with her! I think April is going to have to start signing her up for some kid races! :)

After the race, we went back to Chris' parents for Brittany's Birthday Breakfast! It was of course YUMMY! Then, we headed home for naps and to get ready for our Halloween party that night!

That night, we invited our family and close friends over for a Halloween Party! This was our 2nd year to do this and just like last year, it was a blast! It makes it so much easier for everyone to see the kids dressed up and to just have fun instead of driving all over the city!

We had SO many snacks and Noni brought cookies to decorate and even played the Mummy game with the kids. They loved it!

Brian and Brittany - Batman and Batgirl

Aaron, Haley and Mark

Sweet Baby Emerson

Goo-Goo and Big Daddy

My Mom! Her costume was great!

Noni and Papa

And our family costumes for this year......

PETER PAN!

Chris - Peter, LK - Tinkerbell, Ethan - Michael, Me - Wendy

I ended up making Chris' and LK's costumes. And yes.. those are green tights he's wearing! The things he does for the little girl who wants to be Tinkerbell! ;) E just wore some pjs that he had already and I bought an $8 nightgown from Walmart! I think it turned out pretty well though!

All the parents stayed up WAY too late chatting and laughing, and by the end of the night the kiddos were EXHAUSTED! (as you can tell!) But they had so much fun!! Ethan is usually outnumbered will all the girls, but he is sure to keep them all in line! Thanks to Haley, Gracie & Emerson .. Marc.. Aaron.. and The Caldwells.. we LOVED having you all over! And many many more thanks to our sweet family! You make our kiddos SO happy!

Haley and Aaron

Yesterday, we ran a few errands and then got well rested for Trick or Treating! We were a little worried about how our neighborhood would be considering that we live in a VERY prodominently Jewish neighborhood, but surprisingly, it turned out to be really fun!

my precious puppy! i just love this costume!

the flamingo stance! love it!

Huck went too!

checking out the loot!

Again... notice how tired we are! Raising kids is exhausting! ha!

Can we say SUGAR HIGH???!!! ;)

Gosh, I love this child!

They were SO happy!

Well, the weekend was fabulous and luckily for the kids, the sugar high doesn't stop today! Today is Chris' birthday, so I see cupcakes and ice cream in our future! ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!